‘Transphobic’ six-year-old
Parents Sally and Nigel Rowe were warned that if their six-year-old child expressed confusion about another pupil wearing a dress and used incorrect pronouns it would be unacceptable behaviour. A letter from the headteacher and governors said that pupils risked being viewed as transphobic if they showed an inability to believe a transgender person is actually a ‘real’ female or male. The parents have withdrawn both their sons from the school and been granted permission for a judicial challenge to the Department for Education’s (DfE) decision to provide the guidelines to state schools. A hearing is expected within six months, and the DfE is defending the claim. The parents withdrew their eldest son in 2015 after he became confused about another boy wearing girl's clothes. Two years later, they are raising the issue again after their second son was confused about another pupil who identified as ‘gender fluid’, alternating their appearance on various days of the week.
University strikes
In 2020 staff at 74 universities held a 14-day strike over pensions, pay, and conditions. Now staff at 68 UK universities will be taking part in a wave of strike action over the next three weeks. Some are striking over pay and conditions, others over pensions: but for most taking action, it is over both. The University and College Union, which represents staff at institutions across the UK, has demanded a £2,500 pay increase for members, an end to ‘pay injustice’ and zero-hours contracts, and action to tackle ‘unmanageable workloads’. The dispute over pensions has been rumbling on for over a decade, but has been reignited by a valuation of a pension scheme used by academic staff - the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). Those involved in the action include some of the UK's biggest in terms of student numbers - such as the Open University, University College London, and the University of Manchester.
16- and 17-year-olds in care are neglected
The actress Samantha Morton has accused the Government of being ‘neglectful’ towards 16 and 17-year-olds in care. The law changed in September 2021 so that under-16s are in regulated settings like children's homes or foster care. But others go into supported or semi-independent accommodation such as a hostel. The charity Article 39 said that 22 children aged 16 and 17 in supported accommodation died between 2018 and 2020. The charity said the policy was discriminatory and ministers had not properly consulted youths placed in supported accommodation. It recently took the Government to court. Judgment is expected in the next few weeks. A 15-year-old living in a very supportive environment would be moved when they turn 16 into rented, shared accommodation alongside someone who may have been released from prison with a tag. Article 39's director said extensive research showed children in this type of housing are vulnerable to criminal or sexual exploitation. Many feel lonely, isolated and abandoned when placed in properties on their own.
Agony of living near polluted rivers
Donna Anderson loved living near the Trent and Mersey canal, but when it rained her garden was flooded with sewage from the canal and nearby streams. She has had to install extra drainage. It is believed the culprit is Severn Trent Water dumping sewage once a month on average into Barton-under-Needwood stream. This is not a nasty isolated incident. Dozens of people’s lives are blighted by raw effluent being pumped into rivers, canals and streams by water companies across the country. Water companies can discharge raw sewage into rivers in ‘exceptional circumstances’ of heavy rainfall which could cause flooding, but it is happening with alarming regularity. In 2020, sewage spilled into rivers 403,171 times, with serious consequences. Sewage is damaging the quality of over a third of rivers. The Daily Telegraph is calling for action to protect England’s waterways from devastating pollution: see
